The heart of Dwyane Wade’s autobiography, "A Father First: How My Life Became Bigger Than Basketball," is located in the moving account of his upbringing in Chicago and in his relationship with his two sons.

He is raising the boys as a result of what he tells the reader is "the longest custody trial in Cook County family court history." Wade gained sole custody of the boys after a bruising and bizarre court fight with his former wife, Siohvaughn, that kept him separated from his sons for three years and eight months.

There can’t be many National Basketball Association players, if any, who have been awarded sole custody of their children after a divorce proceeding.

Wade’s reputation was sullied during the divorce and his book is one way he has chosen to help restore it. Winning a second championship with the Miami Heat last season (left, with his sons; credit: AP) also isn’t a bad way to rehabilitate any name.

But as compelling as the details of his personal journey have been, this reader was as interested in what observations and insights and opinions he had to share about basketball matters, particularly about his time at Marquette.

Wade writes he took off as a player at Harold L. Richards High School in Chicago in the summer of 1998, between his sophomore and junior seasons. He grew from 5-feet 7-and-one-half inches to 6-2. By the time he came to MU he was 6-4.

From Richards varsity coach Jack Fitzgerald, Wade says he learned "how to be a teammate." Richards assistant varsity coach Gary Adams gave Wade extra training and coaching, taking him to college games where Adams encouraged Wade to study the games of Quentin Richardson of DePaul or Cordell Henry of Marquette and add some of what they were doing to his own repertoire.

Wade, 30, says during his entire career he has taken portions of other players’ games.

"When we were training for the Olympics in 2008, I saw Kobe Bryant make a move I thought was amazing," Wade says. "Not too proud to ask, on the next break, I turned to Kobe and said, ‘Show me how you just did that.’ He didn’t mind showing me, any more than I mind when someone asks me to show them one of my moves."

Wade said Michigan was the college he dreamed of playing for, inspired as he was by the Fab Five. But some of the schools looking at Wade, Michigan included, stopped looking when his first ACT score was low.

"My first set of scores wasn’t bad," Wade writes. "They were disastrous. They sucked."

DePaul, Illinois State, Bradley and Marquette remained interested in Wade even though he struggled to get his ACT up to the qualifying standard.

Wade said MU was his first choice among those four in part because coach Tom Crean called him at 11:01 a.m. on a June day, one minute after recruiting calls could be made.

"I wanted to be your first call," Crean told Wade. "And I want to be your first call because this is how important you are to Marquette and our future.’. . . That carried weight with me; it meant a lot."

Wade says Illinois State’s Tom Richardson did the most impressive job of recruiting him and that school appealed to him the most. His decision came down to Illinois State and MU.

"The moment of truth for me occurred during my parting interview with coach Crean," Wade writes. "In his early thirties, Tom Crean wasn’t a bad-looking guy, with his great head of dark hair and hip glasses. Smart and energetic, he was physically fit and notably tan in an athletic, outdoorsy way – even though frankly, I saw that he was terrible as an actual player . . . . His most noticeable trait, however, was an intense power of observation. Like he was capable of reading your mind."

Crean told Wade he was committed Wade even if he could not qualify with his ACT scores.

"Later I found out that Coach C probably didn’t have the right to say that and he had to go back to the school to make sure that he could stand by that," Wade writes. "No matter, I was sold all the same."

Wade says the third and final time he took the ACT, the score was lower than the other two. He cried when he told Crean about the third score. Crean cried too. Twice in fact.

"At last I heard him take a determined breath," Wade writes. "His energy and tone changed. Now he was the coach, making a call after a tough loss. ‘Look, here’s what we’re going to do. You’re coming here and we’ll stay with everything as planned. The only difference is you won’t be able to play in the games or travel. But you’ll do everything else. You’re on the team."

Crean "emerged as the father figure I needed at the time," Wade says.

But Crean was demanding.

"At different points, he pushed so hard I was seriously ready to go home," Wade writes. "Then, of course, I realized there was nuthin’ to go home to. But that didn’t change the backing vocal track inside my head – This man is crazy!"

Wade recalls his awkwardness at a practice before the start of the 2001 season when he told Crean about Siohvaughn’s pregnancy.

" ‘Whatever happens, whatever you decide, I’m here and we’ll get through this together,’ " Crean told Wade. "Didn’t tell me what to do or how to do it. Just that he’d be there to go through it with me."

After Wade helped lead the Golden Eagles to the Final Four in the 2002-’03 season, he said Crean helped him decide to leave Marquette for the NBA.

"If you’re seen as a lottery pick, then we know what to do," Crean told Wade when they were in Los Angeles to participate in the Wooden Award presentation in 2003. "If not, we’ll have a decision to make."

After the two returned to Milwaukee from the ceremony, Crean shook Wade’s hand and told him: "I just want to thank you for everything you’ve done for Marquette University."

Crean had heard from scouts that Wade was a projected lottery pick.

"I just want to say congratulations," said Crean, sending his star player into the NBA draft, where he was picked fifth overall by Miami.

About Bob Wolfley

Bob Wolfley retired in October 2014 He wrote the SportsDay blog and column and about TV and radio issues.